In a post on ScreenCraft, Emily J examines three levels of antagonism and how to use them in your writing. “Bringing antagonism to life on the page is harder than it seems,” she writes. “Your goal is to make your hero feel as though their goal is insurmountable, no matter what genre you’re writing.”
The three levels of antagonism are:
- Internal Antagonism. Usually called internal conflict, internal antagonism is a result of your character’s flaws and contradictions. “As you’re writing, every beat is challenging the character’s known way of thinking, believing, and acting to change for the better and they’re resisting the whole way through,” Emily writes. “They might try new paths but it’s never the ‘correct’ path until the last moment, the climax of your film, when the audience sees how your character has changed.”
- Interpersonal antagonism. Your hero needs obstacles and many of those are found in other people – competitors, rivals, family members, superiors, and villains. Interpersonal antagonists pluck your hero’s weak spots, and often have the exact quality your protagonist needs to succeeds.
- Extra-personal antagonism. “Extra-Personal Antagonists…are forces that are much larger and greater than any one person, though there may be one person who represents the extra-personal,” Emily explains. Societal rules, the government, taboos, and natural disasters can all present obstacles. In some cases, a human might represent these forces, but still these entities remain larger than a single person.
Antagonists can also be positive characters. Your protagonist may be trying to live up to the reputation of an ideal parent or pushed into doing good by someone with higher moral standards. Your hero may have a sidekick who acts as the voice of reason, arguing against a risky course of action. An antagonist is whomever is pushing your hero out of their comfort zone and challenging their internal flaws.
